Noble Tree

Blessed was the day
and welcome was the hour
whereon God’s Virgin Mother
was brought forth.

​For of that birth
Isaiah spoke
and said in prophecy
that a noble tree would spring
out of the root of Jesse,
and that this tree a bloom would bear
on which the Holy Spirit
of God himself would rest.

Blessed was the day
and welcome was the hour
whereon God’s Virgin Mother
was brought forth.

King Alfonsus of Castile, 13th century

O Lord, we beseech thee, bestow on thy servants the gift of heavenly grace: that as our redemption began to dawn in the child-bearing of the Blessed Virgin Mary; so this festival of her Nativity may yield us an increase of peace; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.